Lake Henshaw water production up somewhat

VISTA -- In the first three months of this fiscal year, Lake
Henshaw, the Vista Irrigation District's local water source, has
produced an amount of water nearly equal to the amount it supplied
the district the entire previous year, according to a report the
agency issued this week.

Between the end of the 2003-04 fiscal year on June 30 and Sept.
30, Henshaw produced 976 acre-feet of water compared to just over
1,000 acre-feet last year. An acre-foot is enough water to sustain
an average family for two years.

"So far, this first quarter, we're looking at a better year than
last," said Eldon Boone, finance director for the district, which
owns and administers Lake Henshaw, a man-made reservoir about 40
miles east of Vista.

Lake Henshaw accounts for about 8 percent of the district's
water, while the rest is purchased from the Metropolitan Water
District and other agencies. The irrigation district provides
drinking water for about 120,000 people in Vista, portions of San
Marcos, Escondido, Oceanside and some unincorporated areas.

Last year, Henshaw produced 1,003 acre-feet of water, bringing
in about $382,000 for the district. Combined with property rentals
around the reservoir and other income, Henshaw took in $622,000 for
the agency.

However, its operating costs totalled $1.9 million, resulting in
a net loss of $1.3 million for the agency.

Boone said Henshaw's historical average since its construction
in 1960 was to produce 7,200 acre-feet per year, and that, just as
the past several years have been unusually dry, wetter days likely
lay ahead, as well.

The last time Henshaw produced a net gain in revenues for the
district was in 1999.

"This is not new," he said. "We've gone through cycles before.
It all depends on the weather."

Howard Williams, one of the district's directors, said this
year's first-quarter results were nothing to get too excited
about.

"We're still in a drought situation up there, so we're not
getting anything out of it really," said Williams, adding that the
region still needed a significant amount of rainfall to bring the
reservoir up to a reasonable capacity.

Boone said the losses for the 2003-04 fiscal year were
exceptionally high because of October's wildfires and renovations
to the reservoir's delivery system.